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Developmental changes in adiposity in toddlers and preschoolers in the GENESIS study and associations with the ACE I/D polymorphism

International Journal of Obesity volume 31, pages 1052–1060 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives:

To investigate the relationship between the angiotensin I-converting enzyme 1 (ACE) I/D polymorphism and adiposity-related phenotypes in a large cohort of toddlers and preschoolers.

Methods:

Body composition measurements and DNA samples were obtained from 2102 Greek children aged 1–6 years, as part of a large-scale epidemiological study (GENESIS). All children were genotyped for the ACE I/D polymorphism and gender- and age-stratified statistical analyses were performed.

Results:

In girls aged 4–6 years, the D-allele was associated with higher measurements of body mass index (BMI) (P=0.018), waist (P=0.001) and upper arm (P=0.013) circumferences, genotype accounting for 2.5, 4 and 3% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. In boys, the D-allele showed strong associations with lower BMI (P=0.001) at the age of 1–2 years that explained 17% of the phenotypic variance and with larger suprailiac skinfold (P=0.008) at 3–4 years old that explained 2% of the variance. No other significant associations between the ACE I/D polymorphism and adiposity-related phenotypes were found. In girls, the age at which significant associations were revealed coincided with the age at which BMI was observed to increase after its developmental nadir, but this feature of the association was not observed in boys.

Conclusions:

The ACE I/D polymorphism is associated with developmental and physiological changes in adiposity-related traits during early childhood in a gender- and age-specific manner.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by Grant 17/D17566 from the Medical Research Council/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council associate program in human nutrition research and a grant from Friesland Food Hellas. Yannis Manios also works as a scientific consultant for Friesland Food Hellas. None of the other authors had any conflict of interest to declare. The sponsors had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, the writing of the manuscript, the submission and revision of the paper. The cooperation of all schools and subjects is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Institute of Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle (IDEAL), University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    V Lagou, C N Moran, M E S Bailey, R H Wilson & Y P Pitsiladis

  2. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Y Manios, E Grammatikaki, E Oikonomou, E Ioannou & G Moschonis

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  1. V Lagou
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Correspondence to Y P Pitsiladis.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on International Journal of Obesity website (http://www.nature.com/ijo)

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Lagou, V., Manios, Y., Moran, C. et al. Developmental changes in adiposity in toddlers and preschoolers in the GENESIS study and associations with the ACE I/D polymorphism. Int J Obes 31, 1052–1060 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803605

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